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A question arises: is there a moment where 'you' are clearly not the last 'you' nor the next 'you'?
Josh Young wrote:A question arises: is there a moment where 'you' are clearly not the last 'you' nor the next 'you'?
For all I know (very very little), when I read that question, it is like looking at the stars, my mind goes blank and I lack an answer.
Monsoon wrote:I have thought of a better question: Josh, how is what you posted different to what the Diamond Sutra says?
is there a moment where 'you' are clearly not the last 'you' nor the next 'you'?
Additionally, is your thought independent of the Diamond Sutra (this is an important distinction)?
However you slice your intervals there has to be a way for information to be retained. As such a flavour of the past self is always here in the present, and the flavour of the present will move forward into the future. That we cannot maintain a sense of past self is perhaps not that important, because the echo of that past is with us always.
I used to think that language is simply too coarse for such discussions, then, sadly, I realised that this is coupled with my poor use of said language. And the problem is compounded!
(quoting myself )Additionally, is your thought independent of the Diamond Sutra (this is an important distinction)?
what exist between one incarnation and the next?
where your thoughts are shaped directly by having read the Sutra, and two, where your thoughts are shaped by your interdependence.
is your perceived issue with language interpretation a connected part of your autism? The reason I ask is that such a condition might lead you into some unusual areas of abstract thought based on referents that are not common to the average person.
Also, can someone else, anyone, join in, because I am treading deep water here and Idon't know how long I can do this.
Monsoon wrote:Hi Inga,
I too was drawn in by the Heart Sutra. It is a beautiful, deep and yet clear Sutra that repays much on study. I can recommend Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra by Thich Nhat Hanh. Here's a link to a cheap copy! Although there are other commentaries out there, and Red Pine leaps to mind, this one is (in my humble opinion) by far the clearest in expression. Your mileage may vary, as the the saying goes, but worth a look.
If an ordinary man, when he is about to die, could only see the five elements of consciousness as void; the four physical elements as not constituting an 'I'; the real Mind as formless and neither coming nor going; his nature as something neither commencing at his birth nor perishing at his death, but as whole and motionless in its very depths; his Mind and environmental objects as one -- if he could really accomplish this, he would receive Enlightenment in a flash. He would no longer be entangled by the Triple World; he would be a World-Transcendor. He would be without even the faintest tendency towards rebirth. If he should behold the glorious sight of all the Buddhas coming to welcome him, surrounded by every kind of gorgeous manifestation, he would feel no desire to approach them. If he should behold all sorts of horrific forms surrounding him, he would experience no terror. He would just be himself, oblivious of conceptual thought and one with the Absolute. He would have attained the state of unconditioned being. This, then is the fundamental principle.
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